Wicked Dirty (Stark World 2)

"Your family. Your memories. Your integrity. You held up a mirror for me, even if it took me a long time to see it clearly. I love you, Sugar," he says, his voice full of conviction. "You're the only woman I've ever loved, and you're the best thing to ever happen to me. I love you."

His words wash over and through me. Filling me with joy.

"I love you, too," I say. "But--"

He presses a fingertip over my lip, then shakes his head. "I know what you're going to say. Love isn't our problem. I know. I've been living a shadow life. But that stops now. No more living someone else's dream. No more lying about who I really am."

I stand frozen with anticipation, my chest so full of hope I can't even breathe.

"I talked with Evelyn this morning."

"Is everything okay with those movie offers? I mean, they're not going to pull the offers because of the scandal?"

He shakes his head. "Not going to be an issue," he says. "Partly because this town thrives on scandal, but primarily because I'm not doing the movies."

My eyes go wide. "What?"

"I turned down the three sequels. But we told them I'd stay attached to M. Sterious so long as they go back to the original script. They agreed."

"Seriously?"

He nods. "They haggled. Said how they should reduce my profit participation because of the scandal, all sorts of nonsense. But in the end, when they saw there weren't three more coming in the wings, they agreed. They're not complete idiots. They know the original script was better."

"Lyle, that's great. You genuinely liked that script."

"Yeah," he says with a smile. "Honestly, now I can't wait to start filming. Plus, without the others filling my schedule, I was able to accept the offer for Arizona Spring."

I shake my head, then throw my arms around him and hug him. "I'm proud of you."

"Hell, I'm proud of me, too. You were right." He tilts my chin up so I'm facing him. "Jenny wanted fame and fortune. I want to act. You saw that from the beginning, even when I couldn't see my own life clearly."

"You just needed a mirror," I say.

"And you gave me one." He brushes a gentle kiss over my lips.

"Lyle," I murmur, a familiar need coursing through me.

"I know," he says. "Me, too. But there's something else I need to tell you."

I nod, then take a step back so that I can see him better.

"I resigned from my position at the SCF," he says.

"Oh." I swallow. It's great that he's accepted that he was living Jenny's dream, but I was hoping he'd follow Damien's advice and claw his way out from under the secrets of his past.

"What did Damien say?"

"It was his idea, actually. I talked to him after I met with Evelyn."

"His idea? But I thought he wanted you to tell the board about your past. To explain how much of a connection you had with the kids."

"Which would be great if I liked the position more. I mean, I'm happy to support the organization however they need me. But I had another idea. Fortunately, Damien loved it. And when he called a few board members to see how it would fly with them, they loved it, too."

"And...?"

"I'm going to be an SCF Youth Advocate," he says. "Hopefully the first of many."

I shake my head. "Should I know what that is?"